GET RID OF WHAT SLOWS YOU DOWN!

Our cat, SUGAR, has been looking horrible this summer. He got scruffy looking and it appeared he wasn't feeling well. Wasn't he bathing himself? Was the heat too much for him?

So we began brushing him. First Elliott worked on him. Then Molly (yes, MOLLY). Still he looked pretty sad. His hair is super thick, and the hot weather must have made him feel awful with that big furry coat on.

So twice, I brought him inside, laid a towel in my lap and got serious about combing out all those ugly clumps. Sure enough, we discovered those clumps were loose hair just caught in his thick fur.

He was molting!

Here is some of the hair we combed out of his fur.

He must feel so much better now.

"...let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entanges, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus..."

Hebrews 12: 1-2

RAIN

How precious that wet stuff is! And how I took it for granted. It's a lot of work to keep our lawns semi-green and our plants from drooping. When God takes care of it, it is so much easier!

But we have seen precious little moisture in Texas this summer.

Rain has come sporatically,to east Texas! Texas has been in a terrible drought for a long time. The other day, we woke up to rain failling. We had forgotten what that was like. When it comes, it is wonderful!
Thank you, Lord.

As a result of the prolonged dry season, there have been many wildfires and fear of more. I was shocked when I saw this map the other evening on the weather report:

Over July 4th, many counties had cook-out bans as well as bans on using firecrackers. You can see northeast Texas is in the best situation. Even so, Longview has seen very little rainfall this season.

Little League Baseball

For many people a big part of spring and summer is baseball. It certainly is for all the Norwoods. Noel coaches Elliott's team, the hospital's team, and our churches' team. The latter team includes 3 generations of ball players: Papa, Noel, and Johnathan.

Elliott enjoyed and did well on the 9-10 year old player-pitch team this year. The rest of us enjoyed cheering the team on. Molly, Carl, and Johnathan ran the concession stand every night and were super busy throughout the season. Noel made sure all the food and supplies were purchased, but he was mostly busy on game nights when his team was playing or practicing.

The season culminated in Elliott being chosen for the 9 year olds' All-Star team and Noel was assistant coach. Because the boys making up this all-star team had played on various teams throughout the season, they might not know each other, so Noel and the head coach decided to do some fun things together outside of practice and playing. One such event was a cookout at our house, where we had 38 people.

(Dad cleaned and scrubbed the deck and put a sealer on the wood. A considerable job! But is looks wonderful now.)

In the midst of a terrible Texas drought, God blessed us with rain on that very night....but thankfully after the hamburgers had been cooked!  We were glad the kids could play in our game room!

Meanwhile the parents and older siblings sat around the dining table and living room to visit.

The All-Stars played well, but did not manage to win the tournament. Elliott's Little League team was 2nd place in the city for 9-10 year olds! Here, Elliott is batting in the All-Star game. See Noel, 3rd base coach.

The All-Star team gathers after the game.

It's been a great season!

Yard Work, Part 2

To our surprise, Noel and Molly, along with Carl and Elliott (Johnathan is out of town) came over Saturday evening. The plan was to have supper together, however, they came prepared to work!

These pictures tell the story.

Noel brought his riding mower and took care of our considerable side yard, plus some of the outlying areas.

Carl used our lawnmower to mow our front yard.

And Molly uses the weed eater to trim and neaten up all the edges we've ignored!

She even tackled the cracks in the brick walkway, digging the grass out with her hands.

Elliott awaits his assignment of moving good grass to bare areas in the lawn.

Oops! The electric cord got weed wacked. Time out for repairs.

While waiting for the repairs to be completed, Molly finds a neglected flower (?) bed and gets to work while Elliott passes the time with his skate board.

And then Elliott finds the grass that can be reused elsewhere.

YIKES! A copper head was found in the yard! Thanks to Carl's brave spirit, he killed it! Thank you, Carl.

See his smashed head, mouth wide open?

Can you spot the headless copper head?

Thanks, Norwoods, for a job well done and for the bonus of ridding the yard of danger!

 Everyone cooled off with a good supper together, some games and a little work on the jigsaw puzzle

 that's always on the game table.

Summer yard work

Confession is good for the soul.
This is sort of embarrassing.
But we're being totally honest, here.
We are learning to take care of our considerable yard.

We live on a large lot, and WE are the ones taking care of it. Just like everyone else, I guess, but this is something we've had to get used to. On the mission field, we often had help keeping the yard, or else we were living in an apartment.

But now, it is all up to us! So besides keeping the lawn mowed, what else do you do? Planting flowers isn't as easy as it sounds. You have to know where to plant them (sun, shade, etc.). You have to remember to water them. You have to weed  them. And fertilizing helps (which fertilizer? How often?). Not to mention..... we have 46 oak trees in our yard that drop billions of leaves every single year! And that is not even counting the hundreds of trees on the surrounding property around our house. So we are learning as we go.

Here are some BEFORE pictures. Hopefully, next spring and summer I will be able to post the AFTER pictures.

And here's hoping you will see an imrovement.

Come back next year, and see if we were able to make any improvements.
See you then!

Bible Studies

At his time in my life (that is: retirement) I can pick and choose what I will do more than at any other time in my life. I have more time now, to join in group Bible studies, offered by my church and other churches around town. Or I may do my own thing. But one thing I know, I must be in some sort of Bible study

I find that I need a structured way to study the Bible. I want something more than just reading my Sunday School quarterly. Sometimes, I like to track down a specific topic that I have been mulling around in my mind and so end up doing a sort of independent study. But, if this is my only way of studying the Bible, I've learned I stay within a much narrower channel and fail to broaden my thinking or challenge my ideas. I seem to just stay within my own comfortable realm. This stunts my growth, I've decided. 


Therefore, I've been enjoying studying from this website:
http://www.jesuswalk.com/
So far I have studied The Names of God, The Psalms, and am now finishing up John's Epistles. Once signed up, the lessons (usually 9-12 pages) are sent via e-mail weekly. It's all free and the sign-up is simple. I print these out and collect them into notebooks. There is a variety of Bible studies offered, character studies, book studies, topical studies. Each lesson comes with footnotes, art, questions to be answered, and often spiritual songs and hymns that connect with the subject of study, etc. I like this method because I can go at my own pace. I don't have to finish within the week. As a result, my studies go far deeper, I have a better understanding, and am able to discover the Greek or Hebrew words and meanings used in the original texts. And I'm collecting a great resource for teaching or further study.

Johnathan graduates!

The first of our 8 grandkids has graduated from high school. Yea, for Johnathan. We've spent recent weeks celebrating. Our church had a special luncheon and recognition for each of the 70 high school graduates that are members of the church.

The church printed cards with pictures of the graduates. This shows both sides of Johnathan's card.

The following week, both sets of grandparents joined the proud parents and siblings to see Johnathan receive his diploma in the Longview High School stadium. 

There were nearly 600 in Johnathan's graduating class.

We were pleased he graduated with 20 college hours.

The following night, our family had a small celebration together at our home. Each of us gave Johnathan our special Bible verse just for him, and then we prayed over him for his future. It was a good family time, signifying his next stage in life.

Johnathan with Papaw and Memaw....

...with Papa and Lola....

...with parents, Molly and Noel....

...and with his brothers, Carl and Elliott. Note that Carl is nearly as tall as Johnathan now. Don't be fooled by Elliott's height, though. He's standing on a stool! All three boys are hiding apples they are eating, hence their silly grins.